Nostalgic memories of Sunderland's local history

Share your own memories of Sunderland and read what others have said

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.

Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.

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Add Your Memory for Sunderland

Displaying Memories 11 - 20 of 20 in total

The Hoffmans Of Amberley Street

My mother in her eighties took me to Amberley Street where she spent her childhood in the 1920s and 1930s. Does anyone have information on this street now that my mother is dead? Best regards, the Wilson family.

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Added 28 August 2009

Wartime In Sunderland

My aunt Phoebe and uncle John George Charlton lived near the hump bridge crossing the Sunderland to Newcastle train line. We got off the bus at the Wheatsheaf pub travelling from Gateshead to walk about one hundred yards. Their home was adjacent to the line next to an abattoir down a narrow lane. My mother used to visit them during the war years beginning in about 1940. I was seven years old and I would lean ...see more

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Added 09 August 2009

My Grandad

My mother used to tell me about my grandad richard field he was a footballer in hes younger days and he used to play for norwich city football club He was allso the head foreman in doxford s shipyards in pallion But my mother told me that on a new years eve when the clock was going to chime 12 to see the new year in the men would race alone farcett street to get from one end of the street before chimes finished I ...see more

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Added 23 June 2009

Wartime In The Pallion

I was born in Scotland in 1936 through my who came from Wallsend. I have memories of the north east, my father's sister lived in the Pallion in the 1940s. We used to visit during the war, sleeping on mattresses on the floor. My aunt was Annie Mckinnell and I have a memory of a bomb dropping nearby which shook our house. I am 73 now and live in Kent. I have met Pallion people here who remember that, so Sunderland WAS bombed. I wasn't dreaming.

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Added 12 June 2009

The Fairy Dell In Roker Park

The fairy dell in Roker Park was magical. We really believed the fairies lived there.

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Added 13 February 2009

Illuminations

The illuminations were a yearly event in Roker Park and it was magic as a young child to visit each year - particularly scarey was Marley's Ghost in a cave in the ravine. The other memory was of fishing for tiddlers in the pond or having rides on the little train.

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Added 21 June 2008

Getting Lost In Binns

One day, when I was about 5 years old, Mother took me to Binns, which used to be a big store in Fawcett Street. While I was standing by one of the counters, lost in a daydream, Mother went to another counter a few feet away. Abruptly I woke from my dream when the shop assistant leaned over and asked me what I wanted, and because I didn't see Mother, I thought she had gone away and left me there. I rushed out ...see more

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Added 19 November 2007

Happy Days

My parents used to take my brother and me to Roker Park so that we could play there. Our favourite game was rushing up and down the path running through the ravine, which can be seen on this picture.

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Added 19 November 2007

Going To School

My family and I lived in Seaburn, a suburb of Sunderland north of the River Wear, and from 1942 to 1944 I attended the nursery department of the Sunderland High School, south of the Wear. Every morning and evening my father, who taught in Sunderland Technical College, would take and fetch me travelling in a tram like the one on this photo.